Archive for December, 2009

By the time you’re reading this, it will be almost over: Four long, hard, grueling years of national embarrassment, local incompetence and stunted economic growth, all the result of what history may accurately record as Toledo’s Greatest Mistake, the election of Carl Finkbeiner.
What else could explain the (re-) election of a certifiable failure and nationally known joke-of-a-mayor whose sole accomplishment was as a “Trivial Pursuit” answer?
The grand exodus of jobs, businesses and people will be the indelibly tragic legacy of the man I humorously but derisively dubbed “Mayor Pantload.” Deservedly so, considering the stench of mistruths, half-truths and outright lies only a hard-wired narcissist could not only ignore, but transmogrify into “Toledo Pride” and then publicly desecrate anyone “who doesn’t believe as I do.” Even with the intense scrubbing of new ideas initiated by Mr. Clean’s long-lost twin, Mayor-elect Mike Bell, it will take considerable time for the fecal stench of the Finkbeiner Criminal Administration to fade from local, regional and national memory. How long before “Trivial Pursuit” becomes extinct?
Concurrent with the orgasmic thrill of this blessed political conclusion, post-Jan. 4 (at 5 p.m.) also marks the end of a four-year concerted effort to raise community awareness by educating voting age citizens with the 2-by-4 content of local talk radio programming at NewsTalk 1370 WSPD.(1)
The determination to effect fundamental positive change in “The Toledo Way” was carved in stone after a lengthy conversation at Clear Channel/Toledo headquarters about the same time Carl reassumed his “throne” (complete with fabled Golden Shower) on the 22nd Floor.(2) The unpleasant but necessary cure involved a double-shot of hard-core, unabashed, relentless-but-accurate daily news and commentary, along with a reenergized, reengaged business community that had long since taken shelter in the more prosperous, pristine suburbs, erroneously thinking a few miles and a county line would shield them from the malodorous winds blowing in the results of political flatulence from One Government Center.
And so it began.
Naturally, resistance was stiff. Even terminal patients are known to refuse life-sustaining medication. Such was being administered — none too gently — from the 2-by-4 within the WSPD studios. The efficacy and accuracy of the information was apparent in the soaring ratings WSPD enjoyed as the audience learned via WSPD News and talk shows, the sordid realities they were funding with their every-increasing (and unnecessary) tax burden. As they watched, friends and children left for actually greener pastures, long established businesses sported plywood windows and their beloved Toledo lapsed from vibrant to moribund — all thanks to the potent potion of aggressive ignorance, contagious apathy and a miscreant mayor summed up in denigration “Carty Gets Results.” Indeed, political subdivisions get “the government they deserve” but even the terminally clueless did not want a megalomaniac “cheerleader” shaming their home on stages big and small. And the people began to roil. They started to “get it.”
Finally, exactly 18 months ago, the business community had enough. The ever-growing Finkbeiner dung heap encompassed public interference and humiliation of Costco (which had the audacity to actually want their business to be here) to an unending litany of embarrassments: unwanted bike paths, Irongate, expulsion of the Marines, self-indulgent prize seeking, animal cruelty, verbal harassment, misogyny, racist insults, (still unresolved) lawsuits, the flagrant desecration of the First Amendment even a 10-year-old knew was wrong coupled with fiscal irresponsibly only someone with a BS in Jockstrap could achieve, moved eight men to meet and enact the plan marinating for four years in a small office on South Superior Street.
After some organizational fits and starts, the “Take Back Toledo” campaign was launched with “Recall Carty” petition signings in minus-24-degree weather in January 2009. While scandals continued and taxpayer dollars squandered, more than 45,000 signatures were gathered and submitted. Naturally, all the stops were pulled to torpedo the results. No matter. The “Take Back Toledo” campaign succeeded in banishing the scourge of Mayor Pantload from November’s mayoral election. With a patently transparent announcement, made with the giggling silliness and radiant embarrassment reminiscent of his attempt to fraudulently claim a Chamber of Commerce “Young Man of the Year” award, the self-anointed Big Cheerleader revealed his latest delusion: “I was only gonna run for one term anyway.” Carleton “S. for Brains” Finkbeiner, the Monocratic Gift that keeps on giving; Toledo’s Human Wrecking Ball of Economic Progress who, after four years, pointed (with pride) at 3rd Place Loving Cups signifying nothing, a severely shrunken population, a $40 million dollar deficit and questionable, costly, incomplete projects made possible through sinfully squandered taxpayer resources. Gratefully, in a near-Messianic transfiguration, Finkbeiner became a Limp Duck.
Huzzah. Huzzah.
Thanks to the resolute “Take Back Toledo” committee — Tom Schlachter, Brian McMahon, James Hartung, Sanford Lubin, Ed Nagle and Andy Stuart — seven men who cared so much about Toledo and its future, they invested their time, risked their reputations, friendships, business — and lost, in some cases — in order to shake up and wake up the citizenry to the missed opportunities that, if realized, would have Toledo flourishing as it should, if not for the corruption and ineptitude of the Finkbeiner Gang of Criminal Idiots. I am proud to have been numbered among them.
Thanks to Toledo Free Press and its immediate, unrelenting support for the First Amendment and recognition of our ongoing efforts to change and stay the new course.
Most of all, thanks to you citizens and voters, the TBT Volunteers, readers, listeners, the new activists who made 2009 the year Toledo turned around and, with the election of Mike Bell, now faces a future commensurate with its bodacious potential. It’s over. And it’s just beginning.

Brian Wilson is program director and news director of WSPD 1370 AM. E-mail him at Brian@WSPD.com.

1. In the analogy, lazy, reluctant mule only returns to his plowing chores when the local veterinarian smacks it in the head with a 2-by-4, initially shocking the farmer who was expecting a more genteel solution. The vet explained he first had to get the mule’s attention. In our story, WSPD is the 2-by-4; I played the role of the Vet. Guess which part you played. (Hint: not the farmer).
2 On holidays, The Great He would invite local riff-raff to actually visit the Inner Sanctum of the Most Holy to glimpse His Domain from his superior vantage point, as he daily cast his demented gaze down upon the fools who had re-elected him, despite his infamous record of violence, misogyny and projectile coffee cups.

Since he became president of Destination Toledo Inc. about a year ago, David Nolan has worked to revitalize Northwest Ohio.
In his first few months at work, Nolan decided to change the name from Greater Toledo Convention and Visitors Bureau to Destination Toledo to better describe the corporation’s mission, he said.
“It connotes much more of what we do and what we’re about than the longer version and it gets us away from a consumer kind of implicit view that we’re a government agency filled with bureaucracy,” he said, adding that the name also allies Destination Toledo with

David Nolan

other businesses.
The new name provides more opportunities because a destination can be for meetings, conventions, tourism and much more, said Cathy Miller, the director of tourism at Destination Toledo. Nolan has changed Destination Toledo greatly since he arrived in January 2009, said Miller who has worked there for almost 10 years.
“He is a visionary. I think that he has taken us just in one year where I haven’t seen us go in 10 years,” she said, adding that Nolan sees the “big picture.”Issue 3
Destination Toledo’s position on Issue 3, the amendment to Ohio’s constitution to allow casinos into the state, was significant for Toledo’s economy, Nolan said. The office supported Issue 3, but only if casino owner Penn National Gaming Inc. would not build a hotel on the site, unless Toledo-area hotels reach 70 percent occupancy. The hotels currently have 45 percent occupancy, he said.
Destination Toledo did not want the casino to become an “island” with its own hotel and attractions.
Nolan also worked with Penn National to provide a shuttle from hotels in Downtown Toledo to the casino for three years, he said.Meeting campaign
To bring more business to area hotels and to area attractions, Destination Toledo launched a marketing campaign worth about $357,000 this month to encourage meeting planners to bring their events here, Nolan said.
The campaign will feature ads in national magazines for meeting planners such as Meetings and Conventions Magazine. The campaign also includes agreements by hotels and other meeting spaces to attract meetings and conventions, he said.
Upscale hotels with meeting spaces agreed to eliminate cancellation fees in 2010 and offer up to 50 percent off rooms among other benefits to meeting planners
Hotel manager Brenda Fey said she usually provides benefits, such as eliminating cancellation fees on a case-by-case basis so making that a set rule was not a problem. Fey manages the Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg, which has meeting space for 700 people and has 299 rooms, she said.
“We’ve got a lot of space to fill and … we hope this initiative does just that,” she said.
The ad campaign should reach about 1.3 million people, Nolan said.
Along with providing incentives the campaign will highlight Toledo’s tourist attractions, art community and strengths over other cities.Arts and entertainment
Destination Toledo has worked with the Toledo Symphony to have it play during the fireworks Downtown. The corporation also works with the jazz society, the Valentine Theater and the Toledo Museum of Art along with other entities, Nolan said.
River festivals like Rally by the River again and promote amateur and professional sports in the region.
The Lucas County Arena and the Mud Hens Stadium already are helping Downtown, he said.Experience
Nolan also served as the president of the convention and visitors bureaus in Milwaukee, and Cleveland, he said.
“I think that it’s a vibrant industry; it’s a fun industry,” Nolan said.
He has high hopes for Toledo.
I think that Toledo has the opportunity and it can be and will be a preferred destination and I think it has the ingredients for success,” he said.

Paula Fullilove has a fresh vision for the future of Toledo’s local arts scene, and now she has a venue to make things happen. An accomplished artist, she was recently chosen as the new director of the Truth Gallery.
A native of Gary, Ind., Fullilove has called Toledo home for the past 15 years. She first gained national recognition as a doll maker, when her work was showcased HGTV’s popular “Carol Duvall Show.”

Paula Fullilove

Fullilove, who works with various materials in a number of artistic mediums, is working with tree branches. It was through her artwork, that she first came to the attention of former Gallery Director Ramon Tiggs. Fullilove had a joint exhibit at the gallery with Mack Walton earlier this year.
“Like many of us, I have always felt like I was born to be an artist, though I spent many years as a homemaker just going from home to work to church; it was only after a friend suggested that I become more involved in the arts community here that I went back to my passion,” Fullilove said. “The Truth was the first place I had ever exhibited my work in a gallery setting. When Ramon first approached me about the possibility of taking over as gallery director, I have to say that I didn’t see it coming. I feel like they were really taking note of my creativity and enthusiasm. I feel like I was put in the eye of the storm.”
Since becoming actively involved in Toledo’s arts community, Fullilove has wasted no time in seeking out other experienced local artists, such as Wil Clay, Robert Shorter, Alice Grace and a host of others.
“I always hear people knocking Toledo, I really love the city, and I feel like there are opportunities here for artists. One of things I’d really like to accomplish at the Truth, is to increase gallery traffic by seeking out the fresh young talents that we have here, in fact I am currently putting out a call for aspiring artists, my aim is really to help educate and encourage our area’s young artists.”
The Truth Gallery is located in the offices of the Sojourner’s Truth newspaper at 1811 Adams St. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday by appointment.
For more information, call (419) 460-1343 or visit www.thetruthtoledo.com/Gallery.html.

Toledo’s Underground New Year’s Eve Celebration: The Faux Paus, Tides and Matt Pohlad will perform; two dance floors will be open with music provided by DJs Darkschoir, Audioflesh, Phobos and Sarahmonster, and “nationally known” poet John Dorsey will read his work. Breakfast will be available for those who stay. Adults only. 9 p.m. Dec. 31, Collingwood Arts Center, 2413 Collingwood Blvd. $5. (419) 244-2787 or www.collingwoodartscenter.org.

Wildwood Manor House tours: Built in the 1930s in the Georgian Colonial style, the Manor House was the family estate of Robert A. Stranahan, co-founder of the Champion Spark Plug Co., and his wife, Page. Tours at quarter after and quarter till the hour noon-5 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays, December-March, Wildwood Preserve Metropark, 5100 W. Central Ave. (419) 535-3056.

ART & EXHIBITIONS
The Bead Goes On: The TMA hopes to collect 10,000 hand-made beads made by the public in a various media to create a curtain to be displayed at the museum. Entries will be accepted through October. 2445 Monroe St. (419) 255-8000 or toledomuseum.org/PDF/BGOProspectus.pdf.

Toledo Museum of Art exhibitions: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays, 2445 Monroe St. (419) 255-8000 or toledomuseum.org.
> “LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel.” “Sequential imagery,” or pictures linked by a continuing story, has been around for centuries, but today’s graphic novelists grasp and display a full range of emotion, ideas and information. Through Jan. 3, Canaday Gallery.
> TMA School Show: Students enrolled in art classes at the museum will display about 1,000 works. Through Jan. 10, Community Gallery.
> “Storybook Stars: Award Winning Illustrations from the Mazza Collection.” Dozens of artworks by luminaries in kiddie lit, from Maurice Sendak and Eric Carle to Arnold Lobel and Dr. Seuss, will be on display. Through Jan. 31, Works on Paper Galleries.
> “Word Play”: Works that use language to invoke imagery will be highlighted. Through Feb. 7, Gallery 18.
> “Chihuly Toledo!” Since his first Toledo showcase in 1970, this Seattle glassmaster has become linked to the Glass City with his iconic chandelier in the TMA’s Glass Pavilion. Rarely seen works from the museum’s collection and on loan from private holdings will be on display. Through Feb. 7, Glass Pavilion.
> “Paris: City of Art.” UT art history students selected work from TMA’s collection depicting the City of Light and creations of the city’s artists. Through March 14, Hitchcock and Stevens galleries.

Detroit Institute of Art exhibitions: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Regular admission: $4-$8; special exhibition prices include general admission. (313) 833-7900.
> “Action/Reaction”: Video Installations. When viewed in the context of one to another, these works pose questions about the temporal and mysterious nature of human existence. Through Jan. 3.
> “Photography @@ The First 100 Years”: This historical survey of photographs from roughly the early 1840s to 1940 is taken from the DIA’s collection and includes well-known works by Julia Margaret Cameron, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Alfred Stieglitz and Paul Strand. Through Jan. 3.
> “Avedon Fashion Photographs, 1944-2000”: A comprehensive study of Richard Avedon’s photographs that represent the evolution of his style. Included are shots of celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara Streisand, and models such as Kate Moss and Detroit-native Donyale Luna. Through Jan. 17; $6-$12.
> “Government Support for the Arts: WPA Prints From the 1930s.” About 100 prints created as part of the Works Progress Administration, created to provide relief to Americans during the Great Depression. Through March 21.
> “The Neighborhood Project”: This exhibit is based on two artists’ efforts to combine community and aesthetics. The artists will be present to discuss the project 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 27; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Jan. 6 and 14. Through March 28, Walter Gibbs Gallery.

“Knuffle Funny: The Art and Whimsy of Mo Willems.” More than 60 original works by the award-winning creator of the Pigeon, Elephant & Piggie and “Knuffle Bunny” will be on display. Noon-8:30 Mondays-Tuesdays and 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays through Dec. 26, second floor gallery, Toledo Lucas County Main Library, 325 N. Michigan St. (419) 259-5207.

“White House Pets: Ambassadors at Large.” Bo may be the latest, but there’s a long history of pets both mundane and exotic in the presidential manor. Along with “White House Horses” exhibit. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and noon-5 Sundays through Jan. 10, Hayes Museum, Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, Spiegel Grove, Hayes and Buckland avenues, Fremont. (419) 332-2081, (800) 998-7737, www.rbhayes.org.

Art Alumni Invitational: This exhibition will celebrate the variety of works of UT alumni in a celebration of the College of Arts and Sciences centennial. 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays through Jan. 10, Center for the Visual Arts, 620 Grove Place. (419) 530-8300.

FAMILY TIME
Frogtown Froggy Museum: More than 300 amphibians are on display, as well as a “ribbit-ticklin’” activity room. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays, 136 N. Summit St., Suite 1A. Donations. (419) 944-8806 or www.frogtownfroggymuseum.webs.com.

“Batman at 70”: An exhibition of vintage comics and collectables, a re-creation of the Bat Cave and a history of amazing bat-gadgets over the decades will mark the start of the Dark Knight’s seventh decade. Noon-8:30 p.m. Mondays-Tuesdays and 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays (closed Jan. 1) through Jan. 2, Toledo Lucas County Main Library, 325 N. Michigan St. (419) 259-5207 or toledolibrary.org.

Circus! exhibition: Visitors can walk the high wire, learn to juggle or spring up to a trapeze bar and learn the science behind the circus’ wonders in 23 interactive exhibits. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and noon-5 Sundays, through Jan. 3, Imagination Station, 1 Discovery Way. $6.50-$8.50. (419) 244-2674 or imaginationstationtoledo.org.

Music in Motion: Kids 3-8 can wiggle, shuffle and dance during this event, led by an expert from the Toledo Symphony. 7-8 p.m. Jan. 5, Sanger Branch Library, 3030 W. Central Ave. www.toledolibrary.org. Registration: (419) 259-5370.

Partners in Fun: Three- and 4-year-olds and their adults will listen to stories, play games and make crafts based on the week’s theme. 10-11 a.m. Tuesdays, 577 Foundation, 577 E. Front St., Perrysburg. $5 each session. Register: (419) 874-4174 or www.577foundation.org.
> Bear: Jan. 5.

Wild Things: Third- through seventh-grade artists will use wire, beads and textiles to make creatures similar to those in the book and movie “Where The Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak. 4-5 p.m. Jan. 6, 13, 20 and 27, 577 Foundation, 577 E. Front St., Perrysburg. $40. Registration: (419) 874-4174 or www.577foundation.org.

Advanced Bird Study: Visitors can learn more about different bird species seen in the parks or backyard. 7 p.m. Jan. 7, Secor Metropark, 10000 W. Central Ave., Berkey. Reservations: (419) 407-9700 or reservations.metroparkstoledo.com.

Bird Hikes: The avian world opens up in these monthly hikes, focused on spotting and identifying the variety of birds that live or migrate through the region. 8:30 a.m. Jan. 9, Oak Openings Preserve Metropark, 4139 Girdham Road off Route 2, Swanton. Reservations: (419) 407-9700 or reservations.metroparkstoledo.com.

High Score Challenge: Teens are invited to these one-day tournaments that pit players against the clock in the month’s featured game. Participants must register in person. 1-4 p.m. Jan. 9, Toledo Lucas County Main Library, 325 N. Michigan St. (419) 259-5207 or toledolibrary.org.

U.S. Constitution: Discover the basis for what the government can and can’t do in this class. $15. 1-5 p.m. Jan. 10 and 17, 577 Foundation, 577 E. Front St., Perrysburg. $15. Registration: (419) 874-4174 or www.577foundation.org.

“Les Contes D’hoffmann”: The Metropolitan Opera will perform Offenbach’s fictionalized take on the life and loves of the German Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann in a live HD performance broadcast to theaters nationwide. Recorded encore, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 6, Maumee 18: Cinema de Lux, 1360 Conant St., Maumee. $15-$22. (419) 891-5039.

I recently watched a compilation episode of the public television series “Antiques Roadshow” in which the original letter that Virginia O’Hanlon wrote to the editor of the New York Sun in 1897 was displayed, along with a faded copy of the famous printed response penned by Francis Pharcellus Church. I couldn’t help but think of it when watching the recent antics in the Senate over health care.
For it was obvious that Santa Claus was alive and well, and handing out presents to good little Senators in order to secure their votes.
The senators from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming got increases in their Medicare payments for their states. Iowa got some increases in payments to low-volume hospitals, much to the delight of Senate chairman of the health committee Tom Harkin. Vermont and Massachusetts instead got a “healthy” increase in Medicaid presents from the federal government as their present. Vermont also got another nice present in the form of a provision to use $10 billion to expand community health centers across the country, with at least two of these going into Vermont.
Sen. Dodd of Connecticut seems to have found $100 million under his tree for construction of a university hospital in his home state. New York, Pennsylvania and Florida found a nicely wrapped package of Medicare Advantage beneficiary protection, at a time when other states across the country are facing cuts. Michigan got an exemption for nonprofit health care insurers in their states (at this rate, won’t all of them be nonprofit?) from the $7 billion tax that becomes law with the passage of this health care legislation. And, of course, we’ve all heard about the package of more than $100 million Nebraska can put under its tree if this legislation passes come Christmas Eve, a sum bettered only by the $300 million under the tree of Louisiana on the House side.
Handing out presents in the Senate and House has been going on for some time in this country, and such gift giving is seldom restricted to Christmas. And much as many Republicans would hate to admit it, neither is it restricted to the Democratic Party. Few if any Republicans can say that their hands are clean, and the most honest of them admit that there is a history of bipartisan generosity by our legislators that appears to know no bounds, including that of our ability to pay for it.
We need not admire the apparent greed with which our Senators beg (and even demand) such presents. There is little praise merited by the squalling done by these spoiled children to gain their support, whether you want the health care bill to pass or not. Neither is there commendation due as these supposedly grand politicians take a “principled stand” before their fellows (and any available microphone) to “vote their conscience,” only to later sell it rather quickly to the highest bidder. We are told that such behavior is simply a senator fighting for his state and constituents, but it appears that this noble battle can only be ended by blackening the eye of every other state.
I won’t attempt to argue the case for or against the health care legislation on the table here, as by the time that this is published this stage of the debate will be over one way or another. I will continue to argue against the process going on these days; however, as partisan politics embraces an inherent greed in politicians in a mad dance on the backs of the taxpayers.
I would like to say that we can’t help but admire the Christmas spirit of our legislators, for like the reformed character of Ebenezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” they appear to be able to keep the spirit of Christmas every day of the year in their distribution of gifts. Like the jolly old man with the white beard (Santa Claus, not Uncle Sam), they seem incapable of doing little other than handing out brightly wrapped legislation to the anxious children on both sides of the aisle.
So yes, there is a Santa Claus. He is not, however, the joyous gift giver of legend that we have come to know, but apparently a cynical, self-serving fat cat who extracts a Faustian bargain for each package delivered. The gifts under this tree may be brightly wrapped, but there may yet be a terrible price to be paid for them.
But have no fear this Christmas, for yes, Virginia (and Vermont, New York, Michigan and Nebraska), there is a Santa Claus.

Since his appointment to Toledo City Council in July, former Toledo Public School Board of Education president Steven Steel has proposed several initiatives to improve Toledo’s struggling economy.
Steel said his experience balancing the Toledo Public Schools (TPS) budget has helped him with his budget planning on council and with working with his constituents and other entities.
Working on council also has given the Democrat an opportunity to deal more directly with Toledo’s citizens than he did on the school board. Emotions also do not run as high at city council, he said.
“People take their trash collection seriously, but not as seriously as they take their children,” he said.
One of his main projects as an at-large council member is developing a joint economic district where Toledo and outside cities and townships work together. Recently, council agreed to make a joint economic development district near Metcalf Field, an airport owned by Toledo, but located in Wood County, Steel said.

Steven Steel

The new district provides opportunities for warehouse facilities and transportation with nearby roads, trains and the airport.
Steel said he is trying to move other initiatives that he worked on with the school board to council, including cost-saving collaborative agreements between schools and other city properties. For example, if a school is next to a park, instead of having a Toledo Public School employee and a city employee maintain each entity, one employee would take care of both properties.
At-Large Councilman George Sarantou, a Republican and chairman of council’s finance committee, said Steel’s experience with personnel costs from TPS has been helpful for the city’s budget.
Steel is working to make the city greener with an initiative that he worked on at the school board, said Councilman Mike Craig, D- 3rd District.
“I think in the future, we’re going to look at having city council go paperless, which would mean less paper, not no paper,” Craig said, adding that Steel was on the school board when it went “paperless.”
Steel said he decided to take the appointed position on council in July instead of waiting to run in November because he wanted to gain experience.
“I decided that if I’m the right person in July then I’m the right person in January,” he said.
Despite leaving the board before the end of his term, Steel said he enjoyed the challenges that the board presented him.
“As my leadership as president, I can take some credit for making the school board a leading body,” Steel said of his time on the school board, adding that he hopes to improve council as well.
Current board president Bob Vasquez said Steel’s organization made the board better.
“He brought the board together to use a process for doing the board work, he strengthened our committee structure, he gave everybody instructions of how to work with their committee and work through the issues through committee,” Vasquez said.
Although Vasquez and board member Lisa Sobecki applauded Steel’s leadership, others said he was difficult to work with during his presidency.
“I don’t think ideas that I brought forward were considered by Mr. Steel,” said board member Darlene Fisher whose term ends in January.
She said that Steel did not include her in important board conversations and that he had a conflict of interest in dealing with the Toledo Federation of Teachers because his wife teaches in TPS.
Fisher added that Steel’s political aspirations may have prevented him from being a good board president.
“I think we need to find people who are focused mainly on education,” she said.
The former co-president of Parents for Public Schools in Toledo agrees.
“Steve Steel is only interested in himself and only does things that further his political career,” said Steven Flagg, who is a member of the public education reform group Urban Coalition.
Flagg said Steel was difficult to communicate with and did not close down schools to balance TPS’ budget because of his political goals.
Flagg said he also warned council members not to trust Steel.
However, council members with whom Steel has worked closely seem to respect the newcomer.
“He’s captured concepts that are vital for the future of the city of Toledo,” said Councilman D. Michael Collins, I-2nd District.

I’m not a huge science fiction fan, but I have just enough geek in me to appreciate the more mainstream sci-fi offerings like “The Jetsons,” “Back to the Future,” “Lost” and a good “Twilight Zone” marathon. I grew up daydreaming right along with the rest of my kind about the possibility of futuristic concepts transcending the land of make believe and finding their way into reality. How incredible would flying cars, teleportation and videophones be? Apparently, not as incredible as you would think.

I may or may not have dozed off just prior to the phone ringing about 9:30 one recent night. In the exhausting pre-Christmas crunch of school parties, gift wrapping and last-minute purchasing, it is sometimes hard to tell where the day ends and the sleep begins. The transition just happens so fast.

It was my brother on the phone calling from Las Vegas. He wanted me to get on my computer right away and set up an account for something called ooVoo so that I could have a teleconference with my parents and all of my siblings. After some reluctance to change gears in the midst of my day’s first attempt at relaxation, I halfheartedly signed on. I figured something important must have been going down.

Shortly, my parents two miles away, my sister in Michigan, my brother in New York, my brother in Las Vegas and I were each staring at a computer screen filled with all of our live, up-to-the-minute selves. One would think that the realization of science fiction come to life for the most basic consumer segment would be enough to pull me out of my holiday-frenzy-induced stupor. However, as soon as I realized that my 31-year-old brother’s series of hallway somersaults and my dad’s somehow turning himself and my mom into a vomiting cat avatar were the only new family developments to come to light during the “emergency” family teleconference, I decided to return to bed.

Who would have thought it? Had someone shown up in 1984 with a screen that would have allowed me to interface in real time with several other members of my family, I probably never would have left the room again. I’m sure whoever was on the other end would have agreed that we should just keep staring at the greatest invention in the history of the world for the rest of our lives. And, yet, 25-years later I instead had the luxury of greeting it with a half-asleep “Oh, that’s nice.”

Family communication has been modernized and the change is here to stay. What started out as a sad withdrawal of family contact due to the loss of interest in old-fashioned letter writing, has turned into close family contact the likes of which we never even imagined. Not only are Skype, ooVoo and similar services keeping us in closer, real-time contact with those closest to us, but personal websites, blogs and social networking sites are also keeping us closer to extended family that may have otherwise drifted away altogether.

Relatives I would usually only see once or twice a year, if that, now give me (along with 150 or so of their other closest friends) daily updates about who they are and what they’re doing with their lives. People I otherwise would have shared only great-grandparents with are discussing current events with me across the miles on a regular basis. The beautiful voices and faces of people I once shared a home with are now only a few clicks away no matter our physical distance.

One of the few drawbacks I have found is the elder generation’s loss of their role as information master. Family news from my mom, once the keeper of all current family knowledge, is now followed by a half-annoyed “but I suppose you already know that from Facebook.” Um, yes.

Facebook I have down, but family meetings via teleconference will take some getting used to. Perhaps if the next one results in the announcement of a wedding or a baby on the horizon, I will be more apt to embrace the new technology. No matter how modern the form of communication, a sister wants to hear what a sister wants to hear.

Shannon and her husband Michael are raising three children in Sylvania. Follow her blog online at http://www.WhatsWithWomen.com/ and e-mail her at letters@toledofreepress.com.

Reinhold Niebuhr. Now there’s a name from the past for you. Almost a hundred years ago he served as a pastor in a working class parish in Detroit. If you have ever prayed the “serenity prayer” then you are familiar with a piece of his work. Today you find his name popping up on the pages of the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, and dare I say it, even the Toledo Blade. After leaving the parish he went off to teach at Union Theological Seminary. He wrote books. He became a prominent theologian and ethicist in a day when people actually read theology. He died in 1971. Today, he is seldom read by church people, and yet, every time we as a nation find ourselves in a particularly difficult situation, such as war, one fraught with ambiguity and paradox, thinkers from all over the political spectrum pull him off the self, blow off the dust, rifle through the pages of his work and use him to help make their arguments.

Many conservatives turn to him because he was not a pacifist. He acknowledged the external reality of evil, the need to confront it which sometimes requires a nation to make the tough choice to enter a war. Sometimes the human condition is such that people are placed in the position of having to choose between the lesser of evils.

Many liberals turn to him because he acknowledged the internal reality of evil, a reality that needs to be named and owned. If we do not do this, we run the danger of rationalizing behavior that is unfair, unjust, and oppressive of others. Sometimes we must oppose an action, such as war, because the need to enter it was manufactured by the reckless passions of leaders who refused to acknowledge the internal motivations behind their actions. The classic example is LBJ and his fear of being the first President to lose a war, which many believe was his prime motivation in Viet Nam.

The irony is, Niebuhr often found passionate defenders of both political movements lacking. He thought liberalism too naive and conservatism too brittle. He believed that we humans were fallen creatures. Though we have the imagination to envision a just and peaceable world, our “fallen state” will always compromise our journey there. Though we can construct (or receive) a system of values and/or absolutes, our “fallen state” will make it impossible for us to apply them in a way that will always be fair and just.

We are left to hold in creative tension these paradoxical and ambiguous realities. We must deal with the dangers external evil places on our community and internal evil places on our soul. Our failure to address one will compromise the other. Our hope in negotiating these tensions (remember is was a theologian) is found in the external reality of a divinely shared grace.

Why this matters is that I have read from several sources that our President reads Niebuhr. It shows. His acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize had Niebuhr’s fingerprints all over it. Being a person of peace and commander in chief of a nation that is fighting two wars is not an easy place to live. To do so requires making a home in the creative tension that exists between the external reality of the evil who wishes to do us harm and the internal reality of the evil that seeks to cloud our vision of what is just and right. It requires strength and humility, resolve and penitence, self confidence and the need for grace.

Niebuhr once wrote, ”Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we are saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love.” To read Niebuhr is to take the longer and deeper view of things. This is not a bad thing for a leader of the free world to be about.

Eric McGlade is a United Methodist minister living in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Automotive enthusiasts owe a great deal to the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the German inventors from the 19th century. Indeed, it was the early works of Nicolaus Otto who refined and patented the internal combustion engine. Other major inventions that greatly influenced automobile manufacture and design also came from Germany. Gottlieb Daimler, Karl Benz, Dr Rudolph Diesel and Wilhelm Maybach were all 19th century German inventors who played crucial roles in early automobile engine design and production.
Most motor-heads will recognize at least some of the names listed above. For most others those names have little, if any, meaning. I assure you; however, it was their work that drove the early automotive i9ndustry throughout the world. These men’s work still impacts the industry today.
Mercedes Benz, Daimler Benz, Audi, Volkswagen, BMW, Mini Cooper, Audi, Smart, Porsche and Opel are all German car manufacturers building cars today. Each of these German manufacturers follows a philosophy of manufacturing somewhat different from their competition around the world. German automobile manufacturers concentrate on quality versus quantity in their manufacturing techniques. It is that guiding principle that has allowed the German manufacturers to remain relatively sound financially while other major automobile manufacturers around the world have suffered.
Indeed German cars are synonymous with quality. The determining factor for many car buyers when choosing a German manufactured vehicle is the perceived quality.
Perception is Reality! Folks who drive one of these German built nameplates are certain they are driving one of the finest engineered vehicles in the world. German car manufacturers, therefore, have some of the highest customer loyalty ratings everywhere throughout the world. J.D. Powers and Associates, an automotive customer satisfaction surveying group, consistently ranks several of the German car manufacturers in the top ten. The Germans are able to sustain these high ratings year after year.
If someone mentions the name Mercedes, we immediately think of luxury and quality. Speak the name Volkswagen and we think of an affordable yet reliable car. If we go looking for a fast yet dependable car we will probably stop at the BMW dealer first. The name Porsche is legendary for both its quality and its speed. Every one of the German car manufacturers has found a niche within the car buying community.
German cars are not just about quality. Germany offers some of the most fuel efficient non-hybrid vehicles made in the world. The Volkswagen Diesel powered Jetta easily exceeds the manufacturers listed 42 miles per gallon on the highway. Volkswagen offers two other diesel powered vehicles for sale in the States that rate better than 40mpg.
The German built Smart car is the most fuel efficient all gas powered vehicle sold in the USA today according to the fueleconomy.gov web site. Pretty nifty considering you can get into a base model for around $12,000.00.
German cars are also about luxury. One of the most prestigious luxury sedans in the world is built by Mercedes Benz. The Maybach, named after Wilhelm Maybach mentioned earlier in this article, is Mercedes premier luxury offering. Starting at over $435,000.00 and climbing in price to nearly a cool million you can get any amount of luxury you choose.
It was German engineering that allowed a small yet reliable internal combustion engine to be mounted to a carriage in the late 1800′s. German engineers today are at the forefront of technology. From greener cars, electronically controlled exhaust systems, automated guidance systems, and advanced night vision systems German engineers have not sat by. Much of the technology commonly used in today’s high tech cars comes from the German labs. Certainly the cars of tomorrow will include German technology.
Fuel efficient, reliable and luxurious German built cars have had a direct impact on the world car market. The standard of quality which was established by the German manufacturers has now become the benchmark for every successful car maker in the world today. We no longer must purchase a German built car to dependability.
It is hard to tell where the car market will be in twenty years but rest assured that the Germans will be offering one of the most dependable versions of whatever the consumer is buying.
Nick Shultz is an instructor of Automotive Technologies at Owens Community College. He is an arbitrator for the Better Business Bureau who specializes in cases involving the Ohio and Michigan Lemon laws. He is a certified master automotive technician by ASE, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. Shultz, a Toledo native, will take questions from readers at letters@toledofreepress.com.

Clear Channel General Manager Andy Stuart takes Toledo’s economic and government deficiencies so seriously, he uses his full resources to create solutions.
In the past year, Stuart and others in the political action committee Take Back Toledo began a recall effort of Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. Take Back Toledo also launched a campaign broadcasting editorials endorsing Michael Bell about 900 times on Clear Channel stations for the November election. Bell won the election with about 52 percent of the vote.
Take Back Toledo’s results have been mixed.

Andy Stuart

Although the group collected more than 45,000 signatures to put a recall of Finkbeiner on the ballot for September, the issue was thrown out by the Ohio Supreme Court on a technicality, Stuart said. Still, Finkbeiner decided not to run for another term.
“I think that the fact that we had 45,000 people sign the petition demonstrates that there were a very high number of people that were very dissatisfied with his administration and he must have felt that he couldn’t possibly win re-election based on that,” Stuart said.
The first goal of Take Back Toledo was to oust Finkbeiner and the second was to elect “somebody who could actually fulfill the duties and obligations of the office the way that it needed to be,” Stuart said.
Stuart, a registered Republican, and his fellow members interviewed the mayoral candidates to determine whom they would endorse. They chose the former Toledo Fire Chief and Ohio Fire Marshal Bell, an independent, over attorney and former Toledo City Law Director Keith Wilkowski, a Democrat, because they felt Bell had better plans for the city. The decision was tough, Stuart said.
“We actually had a choice this time with good people instead of a lesser of two evils,” he said.
Stuart spoke in the editorials about how Bell will be bring jobs to Toledo and how Bell’s experience as the fire chief will keep Toledo’s streets safer.
The editorials ran on five of Clear Channel’s stations: 1370 WSPD News Talk, 101.5 The River, 92.5 KISS FM and 1230 WCWA Fox Sports Radio. They ran about three times a day on each station, Stuart said.
“The campaign was so extensive that there’s no way that a voter could not have heard them and heard them a lot, so I do believe that they made a difference to the outcome,” Stuart said of the editorials.
Although Wilkowski was able to purchase ads on Clear Channel stations, Stuart did not give him equal time to run editorials, Stuart said, adding that it was not an ethical violation.
“There’s a well-set precedent for people who are in charge of the media to be able to express their opinion,” he said.
Andy Schotz, the chairman of the Society of Professional Journalists Ethics Committee, said that all editorials should be clearly introduced so listeners do not mistake them for ads or news. Editorials take the risk of losing the audience’s trust, but the amount of the Clear Channel editorials may not have been excessive.
“That’s not like five times an hour where it’s a constant drum beat,” Schotz said.
Wilkowski declined to comment on the mayoral race, but he confirmed that his campaign spent about $6,000 on radio advertisements.
Bell’s campaign spent $14,223 on radio ads with five stations, two of which were Clear Channel stations, said Jennifer Sorgenfrei, Bell’s spokeswoman.
Take Back Toledo met with Bell before the election and would like to meet with him again, Stuart said.
“I don’t know that there’s any solid plans. I think [Bell is] definitely reaching out to folks in the community and will continue to do that just to make sure he’s getting all perspectives,” said Sorgenfrei of possible meetings with Take Back Toledo.
Stuart said he has endorsed candidates in the past, but this is the first time he has supported a candidate to such a great extent.
Take Back Toledo is still working on its third goal to change the city’s charter to put more checks on the mayor’s power, he said.
Stuart lives in Sylvania, but said he plans to continue his involvement in Toledo politics, including giving endorsements because his business and listeners are in Toledo and he cares about the city’s welfare, he said.